Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
educational goals of the school. Strategic planning is, therefore, negligible or nonexistent,
and there are no links between ICT planning and school strategic planning. The benchmarks
for this stage include limited or no formal written plans, a piecemeal approach to hardware
acquisitions without an overall plan, no educational vision for the use of ICT, a narrow view
of ICT (focused mainly on the placement of computers in classrooms), and professional
development focused on equipping teachers with basic computing skills that are not
necessarily related to curriculum integration.
The schools that participated in this study were (at the time of the interview) beyond
the stage of having only limited or no ICT plans. This was because the principals had
participated in the
Principals First
workshops and had developed strategic ICT plans to
secure government funding. However, some of the principals indicated that their schools had
engaged in little or no ICT planning before the MOE initiatives. For example, Principal 5 stated,
“
We didn't have any formal plan. We had an informal plan which basically set a platform
of using Apples . . . the catalyst was the need to complete a Ministry application in order
to get funding
.” The funding round clearly had provided an incentive to develop formal plans:
“
We had to do it to qualify for the particular funding through the Ministry. That was the
first time
”
(Principal 4).
One or two schools were still on the borderline between Stage 1 and 2 in some areas.
For example, professional development in Schools 2 and 4 focused on acquiring skills, with
few links to curriculum integration. The planning for ICT infrastructure appeared to be another
area where schools were struggling to make the transition from Stage 1 to Stage 2. Principal
4 suggested that while his school was considering options for a computer suite, it was holding
off on plans to network its computers. The problems associated with selecting appropriate
hardware and determining the most appropriate ICT developments were also concerning
Principal 2.
Stage 2: Early Formal Planning
This stage signals the beginning of formal links between ICT planning and educational
strategy and indicates a shift in focus from technical aspects to the educational value of ICT.
Stage 2 schools are characterized (benchmarked) by formal planning and review, the
development of a shared vision for ICT, a willingness to learn and embrace new technologies,
appropriate professional development, and some commitment to resourcing the ICT infra-
structure. Although formal ICT planning in its early stages is evident in Stage 2 schools,
explicit links between ICT plans and school strategic planning are not clearly evident.
School 1 exemplified a Stage 2 school. Small and with limited access to ICT resources,
its initial (informal) ICT planning focused on acquiring computers and software for classroom
use and identifying how the children would use these computers. Its first formal ICT plan for
the MOE lacked depth and focused on acquiring digital technologies such as cameras and
scanners, and communication technologies such as email and the Internet. The principal
stated that while the school's ICT planning was well below average, there were implicit links
between the school's ICT strategic plans. However, document analysis revealed that these
links were confined to listing items associated with professional development of staff and
curriculum delivery. There was no specification of objectives, actions, and performance
criteria.
Neither the principal nor his staff had well-developed ICT skills, and all were relatively
new computer users. The lack of technical knowledge and expertise within the school
appeared to be a major factor affecting the school's ability to plan for ICT. For example, the
